Invesco Ltd. Purchases 7,433 Shares of Lakeland Financial Corporation $LKFN

Key Points

• Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Lakeland Financial Corporation by 8.4%, acquiring an additional 7,433 shares, bringing its total ownership to 95,617 shares valued at $5.68 million.
• Insider transactions include CFO Lisa M. O'Neill selling 2,500 shares and EVP Eric H. Ottinger selling 4,635 shares, both resulting in notable decreases in their ownership percentages.
• Lakeland Financial recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50, reflecting an annualized dividend of $2.00 with a yield of 2.9%.

Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN - Free Report) by 8.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 95,617 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 7,433 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. owned 0.37% of Lakeland Financial worth $5,683,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of LKFN. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 9,426.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 64,492 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,833,000 after purchasing an additional 63,815 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 5.6% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 999,033 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $59,383,000 after buying an additional 52,753 shares during the last quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC raised its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 956,565 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $65,773,000 after purchasing an additional 51,624 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 42.2% in the fourth quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 107,263 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $7,375,000 after purchasing an additional 31,845 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Lakeland Financial in the first quarter worth approximately $1,509,000. Institutional investors own 81.15% of the company's stock.

Lakeland Financial Stock Performance

Shares of LKFN stock traded down $1.01 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $67.44. 174,539 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 131,733. Lakeland Financial Corporation has a one year low of $50.00 and a one year high of $78.61. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $64.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $61.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.38 and a beta of 0.64.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.11. Lakeland Financial had a net margin of 22.55% and a return on equity of 13.57%. The firm had revenue of $63.36 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $67.02 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.87 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Lakeland Financial Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lakeland Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 5th. Investors of record on Friday, July 25th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 25th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. Lakeland Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.50%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Hovde Group upgraded Lakeland Financial from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $72.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and issued a $68.00 target price (up previously from $65.00) on shares of Lakeland Financial in a research note on Monday, July 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $70.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Lisa M. O'neill sold 2,500 shares of Lakeland Financial stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.72, for a total transaction of $166,800.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 34,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,292,899.52. The trade was a 6.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Eric H. Ottinger sold 4,635 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.07, for a total transaction of $310,869.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 32,282 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,165,153.74. This trade represents a 12.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 7,435 shares of company stock valued at $497,769. Insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

Lakeland Financial Profile

Lakeland Financial Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Lake City Bank that provides various banking products and services in the United States. The company accepts various deposit products, such as noninterest bearing, interest-bearing checking, savings, money market, NOW, and demand deposits.